Scotland’s whisky industry is attracting a growing number of tourists, with an annual festival in Speyside drawing more visitors than ever before as it marks its 20th anniversary, and a new event launching in the Hebrides.
The Spirit of Speyside Festival, running from 1 to 6 May, in the region that is home to more than half of the country’s Scotch whisky distilleries, made more than £170,000 in the first hour of its tickets going on sale this year, up from £127,000 in 2018.
More than 134 local business, including distillers, are now involved in the festival, up from just over 50 in 2012, and the number of events has more than doubled to 660 over that period. In 2018, the event generated around £2 million for the local economy, and that looks set to increase this year.
The festival was established by a small number of Speyside distillers working with local tourism representatives to attract visitors to the north east of Scotland in the normally quiet period between Easter and the start of summer.
James Campbell, Spirit of Speyside Festival chairman, said: “When we began in 1999 the visitor centres, hotels, bars and restaurants were virtually empty at this time of year and we have transformed this week into the busiest of the year on Speyside.”
A separate industry event, the first Hebridean Whisky Festival, is to take place in late May this year across the islands of Skye, Raasay and Harris.
Scotch whisky tourism is becoming increasingly important to the national economy, attracting 1.9 million visits in 2017, up more than 11% on the previous year, according to industry figures. Spending at distillery visitor centres was up 15.6% to £60.9 million.
